Championship Promotion Odds: Betting Favourites
Odds courtesy of bet365. Correct at time of publishing and subject to change.
| Team | Odds |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 1/16 |
| Oxford United | 8/11 |
| Hull | 3/1 |
| QPR | 9/2 |
| Charlton | 9/2 |
Championship Relegation Odds: Favourites Analysed
Sheff Wed - 1/16
Sheffield Wednesday finished the 2024/25 Championship season on a high. Under Danny Rohl, the Owls found some consistency in the latter stages of the campaign to haul themselves into a safe, mid-table position.
Hopes were high that Rohl would receive the support needed to build on a 12th-place finish and challenge for the top-six spot in 2025/26.
However, neither Wednesday fans nor EFL pundits anticipated another devastating turn in Dejphon Chansiri’s chaotic ownership.
Chansiri appears to be running low on funds to run the club and unwilling to consider realistic offers for the club. Hence, Wednesday have been forced to let several first team regulars depart this summer. It’s not only the players – Rohl has also departed, along with the bulk of his coaching staff.
The Owls have managed to tie down veteran Barry Bannan to a new contract, but even the Scotsman’s presence won’t be enough to help Wednesday this term. With precious little firepower, the Owls will struggle to dominate games this season.
They've managed just one point from their first five games, with Shef Wed's 3-0 loss to Bristol City a truly poor result that was over a half time, with the Owls now 23rd and somehow not rooted to the bottom of the table given rivals Sheffield United's awful season start.
Once the games and injuries pile up, we can only see it getting worse for Wednesday from here given the size of their squad, thus a price of 1/16 looks reasonable.
Oxford United - 8/11
Oxford United avoided an immediate return to League One last season with a 17th-place finish, four points clear of the relegation zone. Credit goes to Gary Rowett, whose uncompromising, gritty style of play was enough to keep the club in the second tier.
However, the club don’t seem to be building on their Championship survival. A quick glance at their transfer business this summer would suggest this too.
The team have signed two loanees from Cagliari and Fulham, followed by a right-back from League One Huddersfield and a defensive midfielder from bottom-half Eredivisie side Heracles Almelo.
It’s possible the club are relying on Rowett to build a side that can grind out Championship survival on a budget once again. However, this is rarely a sustainable approach to take.
Oxford picked up their second point of the season at the weekend as they drew 2-2 with Leicester, however given they were playing against 10-men for 65 minutes, O's fans will be slightly with the finalr result.
They did well to survive last year, however with two of the three newly-promoted sides signing well this summer, Oxford look a good shout to be down the bottom of the table come May.
Hull City - 2/1
The Tigers are another team that appear vulnerable to relegation from the Championship in 2025/26. Hull only avoided relegation into League One last season by virtue of better goal difference over Luton Town.
Things are unlikely to get much better this term either. The club’s unpredictable Turkish ownership have made another leftfield managerial appointment, recruiting Bosnian Sergej Jakirovic as their new head coach.
Jakirovic is another coach that has zero experience of English football, which could prove decisive. Their transfer activity is largely uninspiring too. Gustavo Puerta could be a clever pick-up from Bayer Leverkusen, but the team have been forced to dip largely into the free transfer market, having splurged heavily in the last two seasons.
Their defence looks to be an issue this term, with the Tigers allowing 11 goals in their last four, picking up just four points in the process, form that's seen their odds drop to 2/1 as a result.
Queens Park Rangers - 9/2
QPR stayed free of relegation trouble last season with a 15th-place finish. The west London club then lost manager, Marti Cifuentes, who left Rangers to take charge of Leicester City.
The R’s have since replaced Cifuentes with Julien Stephan, a French coach that’s been in charge of the likes of Rennes and Strasbourg in his native league.
They've signed the likes of Kwame Poku, Amadou Mbengue and Richard Kone from League 1, as well as the likes of Isaac Hayden and Rhys Norrington-Davies in midfield and defence respectively to add much-needed experience at the back.
They picked up their first win of the season before the international break in the form of a 3-1 victory over Charlton, with QPR now into the top half of the table after another 3-1 win at the weekend, this time against Wrexham.
The R's won just one of their first 17 games last year and two of their first 16 the year before and managed to stay up on both occasions, form that they bettered or equalled so far this year, with the R's looking in much better shape this time around.
Charlton Athletic - 9/2
Led by the charismatic Nathan Jones, the Addicks surged to the 2024/25 League One playoff final in May. Charlton secured their return to the Championship by edging out Leyton Orient at Wembley.
Like most newly-promoted teams, Charlton are considered one of the favourites for the drop. However, their recent work in the transfer market gives them a solid chance of survival.
An investment of around £10m has enabled Jones to recruit top talents from League One such as Harvey Knibbs, Tanto Olaofe and Rob Apter. They were also able to secure American striker Charlie Kelman away from QPR after a successful loan spell with Leyton Orient last season.
They've five points from their first five games, with a 1-1 draw to Millwall at the weekend coming as a blow given they lead for most of the second half and were up against an injury-struck Lions side.